Joe Burrow skyrocketed into fame after leading the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl last season, and there should be no doubt he’s one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in 2022.
Even in a crowded AFC teeming of elite signal-callers, Burrow has carved out a name for himself as a truly special quarterback in Cincinnati equipped with his trusty weapons in Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd.
After his 2020 season got cut short due to injury, Burrow bounced back in a huge way to take the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1989, and that intangible quality of mental toughness and his ability to overcome adversity may in fact be his strongest suit.
Burrow got showered with praise by everyone after his 2021 jaw-dropping performance, and he’s started to even draw comparisons to the G.O.A.T. himself: Tom Brady.
In an ESPN article by Jeremy Fowler, a veteran NFL offensive coach reportedly said of Burrow:
"“I hate to compare anybody to Brady, but [Burrow] might be the closest thing. What, did he take nine sacks in that playoff game [against Tennessee]? Didn’t flinch. Hung in there. He’s just got a toughness about him and the ability to think through a game.”"
Bengals’ Joe Burrow has all-time great potential to rival Bucs’ Tom Brady in 2022
Another insider in the league said similar things of Burrow, calling him “”innately competitive, driven and mentally tougher than just about anybody.”
Tough doesn’t even begin to describe what Burrow went through last season. The Bengals’ star quarterback got sacked a league-high 51 times in 16 regular season games, and despite his pitiful offensive line, Burrow led the NFL with a 70.4 pass completion rate. Burrow recorded 4,611 passing yards and 34 touchdowns on the year, generating scintillating chemistry with Chase and other pass-catchers, though heading into 2022 he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore.
Per ESPN’s Fowler, a survey of the league’s executives, coaches, scouts and players listed Burrow as the fifth-best quarterback in the NFL, just one spot behind the G.O.A.T.
Of course, Brady has seven Super Bowl titles to Burrow’s….none, but everyone took notice when Burrow defeated fellow heavyweight Patrick Mahomes twice on route to the championship.
Burrow’s path to the Super Bowl will be just as difficult this upcoming season, and he’ll have to prove he’s more than just a one-hit-wonder quarterback, but he appears to possess all the distinct qualities of an all-time great.
The league has been fairly warned.